Grade 10 Physical Sciences · Paper 1 (Physics)
Mechanics Grade 10
Real past paper questions and answers from 2022 to 2025, with each memo split into the ticks examiners give. Try one, mark yourself, and see exactly which skill cost you marks.
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Question 1.1 · November 2025 · Paper 1 · Provincial · 2 marks
Work it out on paper first. Then mark yourself with the official memo, one tick at a time.
What's in Mechanics Grade 10
Each skill is one thing a memo gives a tick for. Tap a skill for its own questions, notes and videos.
Vectors and Scalars16 past paper questions
- Define vector and motion termsGive the exact meaning of motion words like displacement, velocity and acceleration, or sort a quantity as a vector or a scalar (speed is a scalar).16 past paper questions · 4 videos
- Find a resultant in one dimensionAdd vectors that lie along one straight line to find the resultant and its direction (5 N east plus 3 N west gives 2 N east).10 past paper questions · 4 videos
Motion in One Dimension55 past paper questions
- Define vector and motion termsGive the exact meaning of motion words like displacement, velocity and acceleration, or sort a quantity as a vector or a scalar (speed is a scalar).16 past paper questions · 4 videos
- Calculate distance, speed and velocityCalculate distance, displacement, average speed or average velocity of a moving object (walking 100 m in 50 s is 2 m/s).11 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Describe motion from graphs or wordsDescribe how an object moves by reading a position-time, velocity-time or acceleration-time graph (a flat line on a position-time graph means the object is at rest).16 past paper questions · 4 videos
- Calculate from a motion graphWork out values from a motion graph, for example velocity from the gradient of a position-time graph or displacement from the area under a velocity-time graph.8 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Sketch motion graphsSketch the position-time, velocity-time or acceleration-time graph that matches a described motion (constant velocity gives a straight sloping position-time line).4 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Use the equations of motionChoose and use an equation of motion to find an unknown, such as v_f = v_i + aΔt for a car speeding up from rest.16 past paper questions · 4 videos
- Convert unitsChange values into the units a formula needs (500 g → 0,5 kg, 25 °C → 298 K, 72 km/h → 20 m/s).14 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Identify variables in an investigationName the independent, dependent and controlled variables in an experiment (in a test of temperature on reaction rate, temperature is independent).13 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Write investigative question or conclusionWrite an investigative question, hypothesis or conclusion that links two variables (How does the length of a wire affect its resistance?).10 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Describe and evaluate an experimentName apparatus, describe or explain steps of a method, and give safety precautions (repeat readings and work out an average).6 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Plot a graph from dataPlot results on a graph with labelled axes, units and a good scale, and draw the line or curve of best fit.3 videos
Energy24 past paper questions
- State energy laws and definitionsState energy definitions and laws in full, for example kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy or the law of conservation of mechanical energy.14 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Calculate kinetic and potential energyCalculate kinetic energy with Ek = ½mv² or gravitational potential energy with Ep = mgh (a 2 kg ball 5 m high has about 98 J of potential energy).16 past paper questions · 3 videos
- Use conservation of mechanical energyUse the idea that mechanical energy stays the same without friction to find a speed or height (a ball dropped from 5 m hits the ground at about 9,9 m/s).18 past paper questions · 4 videos
More Mechanics Grade 10 questions and answers
Try each one on paper before you open the memo.
1. Question 5.3.2 · May/June 2025 · Paper 1 · National (DBE) · 3 marks
Water is drawn from a water source m below the ground by an electric pump. The water is lifted vertically upwards at a constant speed, as shown in the simplified diagram below.
The pump lifts the water upwards at a rate of kg·s. Ignore ALL frictional and capillarity effects.
5.3 The pump lifts kg of water from the source to the ground at a constant speed. Calculate the:5.3.2 Constant speed at which the water is lifted(3)Show the memo (3 ticks)Memo
- ✓Time to lift the water s
- ✓Substitution
- ✓Answer m·s ( m·s)
- ✓
2. Question 4.1 · November 2023 · Paper 1 · Provincial · 2 marks
A man applies a force of N on a trolley full of crates on a horizontal plane. The trolley experiences a friction force of N in the opposite direction.4.1 Define the term resultant vector.(2)Show the memo (1 tick)Memo
- ✓Definition of resultant vectorA single vector that produces the same effect as is produced by a number of vectors collectively.
2 marks · Define vector and motion terms
- ✓
3. Question 1.4 · November 2022 · Paper 1 · Provincial · 2 marks
Four options are provided as possible answers to the following questions. Each question has only ONE correct answer.1.4 In the diagram below, a pendulum bob of mass is released from point A and swings past points B, C and D. Ignore all effects of air resistance.
In which of the following positions will the value of the gravitational potential energy of the pendulum bob be the smallest?(2)
Show the memo (1 tick)Memo
- ✓Choose the correct option. The mass and are the same at every point, so is smallest where the height is smallest. C is the lowest point of the swing (the bob hangs straight down).
Answer: C2 marks · Calculate kinetic and potential energy
- ✓
4. Question 7.2 · November 2023 · Paper 2 · Provincial · 2 marks
In the reaction below, magnesium ribbon reacts with excess hydrochloric acid according to the following balanced chemical equation. When the reaction has stopped, the plunger in the syringe remained in the position as shown in the diagram below.
7.2 Write down the volume of gas collected in the syringe.(2)Show the memo (1 tick)Memo
- ✓Volume read from the syringe cm or dm
2 marks · Describe and evaluate an experiment
- ✓
5. Question 2.1 · November 2022 · Paper 1 · Provincial · 2 marks
2.1 Define the term vector.(2)Show the memo (1 tick)Memo
- ✓Definition of a vectorPhysical quantity with both magnitude and direction.
2 marks · Define vector and motion terms
- ✓
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